Tobacco-shade.



PATBNTED JULY 23, 1907. R. S. MATHEUS 9: M. D. DOWNS.

TOBACCO SHADE.

APPLIUATION IILED APB.. 18. 1907.

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ROBERT S. MATHEUS, OF FOWLSTOWN, GEORGIA, AND MACK D. DOWNS, OF GLORY, FLORIDA.

TOBACCO-SHADE.

Specification of' Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1907.

Application filed April 18,1907. Serial No. 368,947.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT S. MATHEUs and MACK D. DOWNS, citizens of the United States, residing at Fowlstown, in the county of Decatur and State of Georgia, and Glory, Gadsden county, Florida, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Shades; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to malte and use same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in screens for shading tobacco plants, and the object of the invention is to produce a simple and etlicient apparatus of this nature consisting essentially in a screening made up preferably of slats, either of jute, hemp, metal or any desired fiber, and suspended upon cables fastened to posts which are spaced apart, and in the provision of means for adjusting the screens to hold the same taut.

The invention consists in various other details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically dened in the appended claims.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is alperspective view of our improved screen for shading tobacco, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail View in elevation of one of the posts with crank shaft mounted therein and upon which the cable is wound.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A, A designate posts which are set firmly in the ground at considerable distances apart. We have found from experience that these posts may be advantageously set at the corners of an area covering about an acre, and each of the posts is securely braced and provided with a crank shaft B journaled therein upon which is a drum B. Mounted at the top of each post in suitable bearings is a pulley C, and D, D designate two cables which pass diagonally from post to post intersecting each other midway between the posts. Each cable passes over two pulleys C and is adapted to wind upon two drums B, each post being provided with a crank shaft, as clearly illustrated in the drawings. At the point of intersection of the two cables is a ring E through which the cables pass.

Connecting the posts are also the cables F which are fastened to the posts some distance from the tops thereof, and to said cables F are fastened the strips of screening designated by letters N. Said strips are made up preferably of pieces of any kind of ber or metal, the edges of which are fastened by mean sof cords or suitable lacing, and a central portion of the screen is connected to the ring which is mounted upon the cables D at their points of intersection. Suitable ratchet wheels M are mounted upon the crank shafts and are adapted to be engaged by pawls K, whereby the cables D and the screen may be drawn taut.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that by the provision of the apparatus shown and described, a simple and efficient means is afforded for screening large areas of tobacco plants, the apparatus being simple in construction and so arranged that it may be drawn taut and easily adjusted for use.

What we claim is 1. An apparatus for screening tobacco plants, consisting in posts, pulleys journaled thereon, crank shafts journaled in the posts, drums upon said shafts, cables fixed to and adapted to wind upon said drums and extending diagonally from post to post, and a screen suspended upon the posts and connected to said cables, as set forth.

2. An apparatus for screening tobacco plants, consisting in posts, pulleys journaled thereon, crank shafts journaled in the posts, drums upon said shafts, cables fixed to and adapted to wind upon said drums and extending.,r diagonally from posts to post, cables fixed to said posts, and a screen fastened to said fixed cables and adapted to be tightened by said diagonally disposed cables, as set forth.

3. An apparatus for screening tobacco plants, consisting in posts, pulleys journaled thereon, crank shafts journaled in the posts, drums upon said shafts, cables xed to and adapted to wind upon said drums and extending diagonally from post to post, fixed cables fastened to the posts below the tops thereof, a screen secured to said fixed cables, and means connecting the same with said diagonally disposed cables, as set forth.

4. An apparatus for screening tobacco plants, consisting in posts, pulleys journaled thereon, crank shafts journaled in the posts, drums upon said shafts, cables fixed to and adapted to wind upon said drums and extending diagonally from post to post, a ring through which the diagonally disposed cables pass at their point of intersection, a series of fixed cables fastened to the posts, a screen made up of a series of slats and fastened to said fixed cables, and connecting means between the screen and said ring, as set forth.

In testimony whereof We hereunto affix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT S. MATHEUS. MACK D. DOWNS.

Witnesses for R. S. Matheus:

J. C. GRIFFIN, J. C. RABAN.

Witnesses for Mack D. Downs J. N. ALLEN, C. B. JONES. .f 

